Eastern HS Renovations in Full Swing

When Charles Weinstein attended Baltimore's City College in
the 1960s, the neighboring all-girls Eastern High School was, for
him, nothing less than an impenetrable fortress.

Little did he know that years later he would be privy to
every last inch of the place, right down to the graffiti scrawled
on bathroom walls.

Weinstein, director of property management for the
Hopkins-affiliated Dome Corp., is overseeing the Eastern High
School redevelopment project, a major renovation effort that is
transforming the 62-year-old building into both administrative
office space for the university and an emerging technology center
for private companies.

A row of Elaborate neo-Gothic
windows dominates the school's gymnasium, which is being divided
into two levels of office space.

The work, which began in July, is currently at its midpoint,
with crews of more than 350 laboring six days a week to ready the
space for occupancy. University tenants are expected to begin
moving there in March 2001.

The structure is located less than a mile from the Homewood
campus and three miles from the East Baltimore campus. Once
completed, it will be a state-of-the-art space retrofitted with
several passenger elevators, new lighting, a fiber optic network
connected to Homewood, an energy recovery system and a
roof-mounted, wireless microwave dish for the transmission of
telecommunications voice and data signals.

Project director Charles
Weinstein stands in front of temporary signage on Eastern's front
lawn. The high school can be seen in the background.

It will have come a long way since Weinstein first stepped
inside.

In 1997, the university purchased the vacant
200,000-square-foot building along with its surrounding property,
which sits immediately across from Memorial Stadium on East 33rd
Street. The school ceased operating in 1986.

In the 11-year interim the building had become the victim of
extensive vandalism, according to Weinstein. Copper downspouts
were looted, graffiti was everywhere, and most of the windows had
been broken. The vacant space also had become a rookery of sorts,
with pigeons being its only occupants during that time.

In addition, the roof was badly damaged, and portions of the
building were literally flooded with rainwater, more than 25 feet
in some below-grade rooms.

"No doubt, we always recognized there was an enormous amount
of work to bring this building into the modern era," Weinstein
said during a recent tour of the renovation work. "But the
structure itself is fantastic."

Eastern High School was opened in 1938, one of two new
flagship all-girls schools in Baltimore, along with Western High
School. The four-story structure is in the shape of an H, with
courtyards in the front and rear. The exterior is brick and
limestone, set off by several massive windows of neo-Gothic
design. The interior features include ceramic brick-tiled walls
and terrazzo floors, which Weinstein said are in incredibly good
shape.

Overall, Weinstein said, the university purchased a building
that was very structurally sound and whose shell had been
remarkably preserved.

"Structure was never an issue; this is the way it was built,
and there is virtually no deterioration," Weinstein said. "Couple
that with these wonderful windows and all the fancy brick and
limestone work, and it is a potentially spectacular
redevelopment. We thought it was definitely worth the effort to
renovate."

James McGill, senior vice president for finance and
administration, said the initial use of Eastern High School will
be to house parts of administration that need to move out of core
buildings on the Homewood campus in order to make room for the
expansion of academic programs and student support services. In
particular, the construction of Hodson Hall, a new classroom
building, will necessitate the move of offices located in
Merryman, which will be razed.

University personnel will occupy approximately 75 percent of
the Eastern High School space. The first offices scheduled to
move there include Human Resources' Office of Human Services,
Hopkins Internal Audits, the Controller's Office, the Treasurer's
Office and segments of Hopkins Information Technology Services.
When completed, the building is expected to house units from the
Whiting School of Engineering as well as a business incubator
center.

To accommodate everyone, classrooms have been stripped and
reconfigured, and former school amenities put to new use.
Weinstein points out a locker room, which up until two weeks ago
contained thousands of lockers, targeted as future tenant space;
and the former gymnasium, which is being turned into a two-level
office space.

"In essence, we are making maximum use of the entire
interior of the building," Weinstein said.

The project's architects are Kann and Associates, of
Baltimore, for the building's exterior; and Colimore/Clarke and
Associates, also of Baltimore, for all the interior tenant space.

One of the building's most pleasant features is its
abundance of light. Weinstein said the school's original
designers wanted to let in as much air and light as possible for
the students, and thus called for a multitude of high windows.

The building, which sits on a high elevation, also commands
a spectacular view.

"On the upper floors, depending where you are, you can see
Homewood campus, the East Baltimore campus and Bayview,"
Weinstein said. "On a clear day, you can see for miles. We might
have to supply everyone with sunglasses."

Other building features will include newly landscaped
courtyards, lighted and secured parking, exterior uplighting,
J-card-accessed doors and a food service.

Weinstein said he expects the shell of the building to be
completed by late January.

"One of the nice things about doing the renovation of a
building like this is that we are not really hampered by bad
weather," Weinstein said. "We have put on a new roof and will
soon be replacing all the windows so that people can work in here
when there is rain, snow or sleet."

The entire site is 26 acres, and the university has secured
a planned unit development ordinance from the city that allows it
to add other buildings in the future.